Motor Torpedo Boat PT-59
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Motor Torpedo Boat PT 59 was a PT boat that served with the US Navy in World War II. She is noted for firing a torpedo that ran straight and true — into a friendly supply ship USS Capella, causing eight injuries, but no deaths 9 April 1942.
She later had her torpedo tubes removed and was converted into a gunboat, with additional machine guns behind shields. Some of the shields were set up for live fire tests and it was found that the shields could be breached {"reduced to swiss cheese") at short range with light arms at a frontal angle.
PT 59 would be the second command of Lieutenant, junior grade...later Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, who chose to stay and fight after losing the PT 109 [1].
On October 28, 1943, in an incident which was portrayed as an action by PT 109 in the film PT 109, PT 59 helped evacuated several dozen wounded men from the 1st Parachute Battalion of the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment from a sinking landing craft, after which she ran out of gas waiting for a tow. She also engaged in a raid on Choiseul Island. One wounded officer died in LT John F. Kennedy's bunk aboard PT 59.
In a cruel twist of fate PT-59 quietly ended her days in the 70's after having served (possibly since 1947) as a fishing boat in Manhattan. It had been thought this boat was formerly PT-95, a very different (training only) design with no significant wartime history, and hence no efforts were made to save the vessel. It seems an important historical artifact was lost due to a typing error!
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